bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Step by step shohin from nursery stock Part 1

Hi October,

Your little lecturing on the first steps is fantastic!! I am a beginner and your help definitely works!
Since there are no bonsai clubs or even bonsai "doers" i know of, i cannot make an aprenticeship which i thought would be optimal for me. Therefore i really have to learn on the pictures and short movies on the 'Bonsai Focus' homepage.
You know in this phase of mine i'm looking at old and your trees in the forest (now i'm living among 3 oak and beech mixed forests) and try to imagine which one would be fine for a bonsai.. I love young trees! But till your pictures i didn't dare to wire them.

So, i have some questions on this:
1) Is it better for a beginner to collect a young tree about 20-25 cm tall, or is better to get a bigger tree and chop it back? I would prefer a small one than cutting -but is it correct?
2) When you have the tree do you immediately wire it or do you give a weeks/months for the tree to accomodate?
3) When having a non-conifer should i wait till fall to form the tree or is it OK also in the vegetation period?
and finally: 4) How do you define the vegetation period on an indoor subtropical tree -namely a ficus? (Because i have a ficus benjamina natasja, too.)

I am planning to make a birch bonsai, because that is not so expensive in my country and your can always find in a nursery (there are no bonsai nurseries in my region..), or under older trees as wild sprouts stemming from the roots.

thanks for your photos!

Lilli

21-Jul-2008	#32
Lilli bonsaiTALK Craftsman Join Date: Jul-2008 Location: Pécs Country: Hungary Posts: 63	Hi October, Your little lecturing on the first steps is fantastic!! I am a beginner and your help definitely works! Since there are no bonsai clubs or even bonsai "doers" i know of, i cannot make an aprenticeship which i thought would be optimal for me. Therefore i really have to learn on the pictures and short movies on the 'Bonsai Focus' homepage. You know in this phase of mine i'm looking at old and your trees in the forest (now i'm living among 3 oak and beech mixed forests) and try to imagine which one would be fine for a bonsai.. I love young trees! But till your pictures i didn't dare to wire them. So, i have some questions on this: 1) Is it better for a beginner to collect a young tree about 20-25 cm tall, or is better to get a bigger tree and chop it back? I would prefer a small one than cutting -but is it correct? 2) When you have the tree do you immediately wire it or do you give a weeks/months for the tree to accomodate? 3) When having a non-conifer should i wait till fall to form the tree or is it OK also in the vegetation period? and finally: 4) How do you define the vegetation period on an indoor subtropical tree -namely a ficus? (Because i have a ficus benjamina natasja, too.) I am planning to make a birch bonsai, because that is not so expensive in my country and your can always find in a nursery (there are no bonsai nurseries in my region..), or under older trees as wild sprouts stemming from the roots. thanks for your photos! Lilli __________________ "If you are not a thinking man, to what purpose are you a man at all?" (S. T. Coleridge)